Job Details

Research/Scientific Director

At Houston Methodist, the Research/Scientific Director is responsible for advancing the research mission of the Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) through leadership in innovation, implementation science, digital health, and AI-enabled research. This role provides strategic scientific oversight for innovation and implementation research programs, including complex, multidisciplinary projects that leverage data science, analytics, clinical workflows, and health system transformation methodologies. The Research/Scientific Director serves as a senior scientific leader and institutional representative, acting as a gatekeeper for research relationships with government agencies, industry partners, and academic collaborators. The role holds authority to pause or redirect research activities as needed to ensure compliance with institutional policies, regulatory requirements, and accreditation standards. This position operates to ensure that the scientific, operational, and budgetary needs of the department's research portfolio are met. The Director supports management and research staff by monitoring scientific rigor and performance, standardizing research and analytic practices, optimizing financial and data resources, maintaining productivity, and resolving scientific, technical, and operational challenges across projects.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and define the scientific strategy for innovation, implementation, digital health, and AI-focused research programs aligned with institutional priorities.
• Provide senior leadership in research methods, study design, data science, analytics, and evaluation frameworks for health services and implementation research.
• Lead and oversee scientific writing, including manuscripts, abstracts, white papers, and institutional reports, ensuring high-quality scholarly output.
• Co-lead the scientific design and execution of clinical trials and pragmatic studies, particularly those involving digital tools, AI, and health system interventions.
• Co-lead grant development efforts, including conceptualization, methodological design, and scientific sections for federal, foundation, and industry-sponsored funding.
• Serve as a scientific mentor for postdoctoral fellows, MD research fellows, PhD students, and other trainees, fostering academic development and research independence.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to align research initiatives with operational goals, clinical priorities, and system-wide innovation efforts.
• Ensure responsible stewardship of research resources, including budgets, data assets, and external partnerships.

This role does not involve traditional wet-laboratory oversight or bench-based scientific research. Instead, it focuses on non-lab-based, translational, and applied research, emphasizing implementation science, digital healthcare, artificial intelligence, analytics, and real-world clinical impact.

Qualifications:

• PhD, terminal degree in one of the natural sciences
• Ten years of relevant research/academic experience
• Leadership or administrative track record, ideally with prior experience in developing or overseeing multi-faceted, interprofessional research enterprises within a lab environment
• Certification as applies to specific expertise. Licensed to provide clinical care/services as appropriate

Company Profile:

Houston Methodist Academic Institute oversees the Education Institute and Research Institute. The Academic Institute aligns our research and education initiatives in service to the clinical mission, providing solutions that answer the call for new technologies and skills our clinicians need for patient care. Houston Methodist Education Institute coordinates our primary academic affiliation with Weill Cornell Medicine and other joint programs, including the Engineering Medicine Program at Texas A&M University Intercollegiate School of Engineering Medicine. The Education Institute also oversees continuing medical education and graduate medical education, and supports trainees in residence for medical, nursing, allied health and research education programs. Houston Methodist Research Institute supports research programs and infrastructure that enable faculty across the system to bring new scientific discoveries to patients as rapidly as possible through the full cycle of a cure from conceptual bench research, to prototyping and development, to clinical trials and FDA approval. The Research Institute supports clinical research protocols and extramurally funded translational research programs.

Houston Methodist is an Equal Opportunity Employer.